Chasing Shadows Afterwards
by Just Will
Summary: Not long after the events with the Guys in White Danny and Dash have moved in together but a recent crime has brought bad memories to the surface of Danny's mind leaving the young man in need of help that Dash isn't sure he can provide.
1. Shadows

Ok so November was a busy month. Had NaNoWriMo occupy most of my time, also had a severe computer mishap that has thankfully been fixed, then holidays and just... life (my brother. That being said I haven't got much of a chance to work on the next chapter of Autumn but I am working on it as well as a side that I have started because I have no life and writing fics based off of other people's fics. THAT being said please enjoy this small story that is based off of Kimurasato's _Chasing Shadows_ story so if you haven't read that one, read that one first and then this will make more sense, if you haven't... well this will likely seem random because everything is established in that story but should still make sense I guess. Either way enjoy this and I'll try to get back to writing Autumn and have a new chapter up soon in the new year.

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Darkness was all around him. He couldn't see anything but he could hear the metallic shuffling of some type of tools coming from his side. Danny tried to get up and look around but found that he was being restrained somehow. He struggled against the bonds on his writs in the darkness in a blind panic before a bright light suddenly came on and shined down into his face.

"Good to see you awake again, Phantom…" Danny flinched in fear at that voice as the face came into view. A bald man in his late 50s stared at him with cold eyes. Most of his face was covered by a white medical mask but Danny knew that voice even though it had been years since he had heard it.

"It's been a long time since you were on my table, but this time there's no getting away," Danny started to breath deeper as more of the room became bathed in light to reveal the cold and sterile medical room that he was in. He struggled against the cuffs that neutralized his powers and felt that familiar cold terror take root in his body again as the familiar medical tools started to get close to his bare chest.

"I see the last time I did this left a nice scar on your body," He couldn't see the doctor's lips but he could hear his voice smiling behind the mask, "That makes it easier to know where to start."

The man's cruel laughter made Danny shake and he tried desperately to get free. He jerked at his hands trying to pull them out as the blade inched closer to his pale skin. Sweat started to poor out and his breath increased as it got closer. He was struggling desperately trying to keep from crying but he just couldn't help the whimpering.

"-nny."

The ghost clenched his eyes shut as the blade started to touch his chest. He could feel the ectoplasm start to flow out from the wound as the knife was slowly dragged down towards his sternum.

"-anny!"

This was going to be it. He had been lucky that Vlad and Skulker had been able to get him out the last time, but this time he wouldn't be so lucky. He was going to be dissected and experimented on here. He'd never see his family again, never see his friends again, never see Dash again.

"DANNY!"

Glowing green eyes jerked open as Danny sat up back in bed. He was covered in sweat and was panting hard from his nightmare. His heart was racing and he grabbed onto the shirt he was wearing that was clinging to his sweaty body trying to get his heart to slow down again.

"Danny?"

The young man flinched and held out his hand that was glowing green ready to fire a ghost ray at the voice only to see a blond man holding up his hands and slowly edging back towards the edge of their bed, trying to give him some space.

"Dash?" Danny slowly lowered his hand and the glow died sending their room back into the darkness of the night. He looked around the room again and started to feel calmer again knowing he was indeed in their bedroom, in their apartment, and not in a cold laboratory where he was going to be dissected.

"You ok?" Dash slid back towards him and slowly wrapped his arms around Danny's body, resting his hands on his sides to try to put some sense of comfort into the half ghost.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine… I'm sorry, did I wake you?" The black haired man leaned back into the blond's bare chest and tried to let the warm touch of his boyfriend ease the fear from his nightmare. They had been dating since the case with the GiW distributing a drug to separate people from their ghosts all in order to get to him last year and had started to live together for a little over a month now. Things were going well for them and Danny really appreciated having Dash in his life, especially at times like this.

"Yeah, you were shaking and whimpering a lot but don't worry about it," Dash just held the smaller man and rubbed his head against his neck before placing a kiss above his collar bone. Danny just sighed happily and craned his neck more to enjoy the loving sensation Dash was giving him.

"Sorry…" They sat in silence for a minute; Dash just nuzzling into the nape of his neck before he rubbed their heads together and looked around at him.

"It was that dream again; the one where you're back on that operating table wasn't it?" Danny didn't respond vocally, but Dash could feel him tense up his body entering fight or flight mode and knew the answer immediately, "That's the third time this week you've had that nightmare, Danny, and the 8th time you've had it since that case."

It had been a gruesome case really. Someone had found a dead body and when Danny had come onto the scene with the other cops he almost had a mild panic attack at what he saw. The body had been carved open for some reason and all the organs had been strewn about in a gory mess. It was a sick sight for most of the other officers but for Danny it only reminded him of that time he was almost dissected by the GiW.

He remembered having to quickly get away from the scene and throwing up in another alley where no one could see him. After that he had asked to not be involved in the case for personal reasons which made perfect sense to Dash but not so much to the other officers. The chief excused him though and they eventually found out that the man had been a drug mule and had died from a heart attack and the drugs had been brutally harvested from his lifeless corpse. It wasn't murder but the men had still been charged with drug trafficking and desecrating a body among other things.

In the days that passed, though, Danny started to have nightmares about being dissected again. Images that he had put away years ago and rarely thought about anymore had started to breech the surface of his mind again. Emotions and fears that he thought he was over were back and it was starting to wear on him and it was also starting to affect Dash who worried about him.

"I'm gonna take a shower and maybe go watch some TV. You get back to sleep," Danny craned his neck around and gave him a slight chaste kiss on the lips before pulling himself from the strong arms that tried to make him feel safe.

Walking slowly through the dark, Danny made his way to their bathroom and closed the door behind him before he turned on the lights. He clenched his eyes shut for a moment as they slowly became adjusted to the sudden light before opening them and looking at himself in the mirror. He looked like a mess with his hair plastered against his sweaty face that was drained of color. He went to the shower to turn it on and stepped back to take off his shirt that was still clinging to his chest.

Danny tossed it into the hamper and looked down at his chest. The Y-shaped scar that had been carved into his flesh when he was 18 was still as visible as ever and he hated the fact he had to look at it. He hated the Guys in White for catching him and doing this to him, he hated how he had let himself be caught by those idiots, and he hated how he had worried his friends and sister by not explaining things sooner.

After the events of the Guys in White being exposed his friends and sister had come back to visit him. With a renewed sense of conviction he told them about what had really happened to him and apologized. Tucker was beyond shocked at hearing what had happened to his friend, Sam was appalled by not only what happened to him but what they had done to innocent people, and Jazz barely held back her tears as she hugged her little brother with more strength than he thought the woman was capable of. They easily forgave him for what he had said and done and promised to be there for him now, but as he thought of those promises and took off his pajama pants he had to wonder how they could help him now.

Once he stepped in the shower he let the warm water wash down his body. He tried to push his nightmare to some dark corner of his mind where he'd never see it again, but it found it impossible to do. The images he had dreamed and the memory of his ordeal kept pushing their way forward in his mind torturing him. He didn't know how long he'd been in the shower thinking about the memories and trying to not let them consume him but eventually the water was turned off and the shower curtain was pulled back. Dash stood next to the shower with a towel in his hand and gave it to Danny to dry off.

"After 15 minutes I started to get worried," Dash knew how to act in times like this by now. He gave Danny his space and didn't press for him to talk or touch him too much, but at the same time he knew when to act and how best to help. Sometimes it was just as simple as getting him out of the shower.

"Thanks, and again I'm sorry I keep waking you up with these stupid nightmares of mine." Danny turned around from Dash, not out of any sense of modesty, they had seen each other naked enough after all, but because he hated anyone to look at the scar on his chest. The ugly reminder of when he was weak and all the pain it caused.

"After what you've been through you don't have to apologize for a few nightmares. It's what couples do. They help each other out when they're scared or hurting. If it was me who was having a nightmare and woke up frightened you'd do the same thing right?"

Danny simply nodded and wrapped the towel around his waist after he was done drying off. He looked back over his shoulder and Dash held up a clean shirt for him to wear along with his pants. He graciously took them and slipped them on before he turned back around and leaned his still damp hair against the blond's wide chest.

"I know, and I would… but…" Danny took a deep breath and slowly let it out, "I just don't know, Dash. I keep having these nightmares and it feels like my past is coming back to get me and I'm just…" Danny couldn't finish his thoughts, he was feeling far too much to put it into simple words so he just wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and hugged him tightly. Dash slowly wrapped his own arms around the smaller man and the two stood like that for awhile before they went back to bed to try to get a few more hours of sleep before they had to wake up again.

When they got up they pretended like the previous night hadn't happened. Dash went to take a shower as Danny started to make their coffee and scramble up some eggs for breakfast. They didn't have to be into work until much later that day so the pair just sat at their table eating their eggs and toast. Dash read the paper and Danny sat at the table sipping his coffee in a comfortable silence with only the occasional turning of paper to break it until Dash put it down.

"I think you should talk to someone."

Danny looked up surprised for a moment before he set his cup down and looked away, "Talk about what?"

"You know what, Danny," Dash deadpanned and Danny knew what he was talking about. Dash thought that he should go to a psychiatrist to talk about his experiences and get some help and this hadn't been the first time he'd brought the subject up since that case.

"You know I can't do that. Even with the confidentiality thing those doctors have there's no telling how they would react to me being carved up like I was and that would only bring up more questions that I can't honestly answer without risking exposure. The only person I can talk to even remotely on this matter on a professional level is Jazz and she's to analytical to help. Face it, Dash, I don't have any options with that."

"But what if you went as Phantom instead of Fenton?" That got a surprised look on the half-ghost's face.

"I dunno… I don't think that confidentiality agreement extends past the life of a person. Think they'd still keep it for a ghost?" Danny tried to joke but Dash barely cracked a smile as he placed a card on the table.

"I did some research and asked around, I think this Dr. Ryer would be good to talk to. She's respected and many of her patients have good things to say about her. She mainly deals with counseling patients who've been through some kind of trauma and I think she'd be someone you could talk to."

Danny stared at the card for a moment, reading the name and address several times while thinking more on the matter at hand. He didn't want to risk his secret identity or problems to someone he didn't know but at the same time he felt like if he didn't start to sort out these issues he was having he might start to lash out. He had nearly shot at Dash last night and if things just continued to get worse there was no telling what he might accidentally do when he suddenly woke up from a nightmare.

"I'll think about it." He stuffed the card into his pocket and got up and took a deep gulp of his coffee before placing it in the sink, "I've got to get going now, I'm supposed to help Darren with some ghost tech today and I need to file my report from my last undercover assignment. I'll try and be home around 7 but don't wait for me if you want to get dinner started or anything."

He leaned down and kissed Dash briefly before he stepped back, transformed, and flew out of the apartment leaving him behind. He had the day off today but other than a few errands and getting in his daily workout there wasn't much he had to do.

"Maybe I'll go see Kwan for a bit," the blond sighed thinking more on Danny's problems before he got ready and left for the day.


	2. Hope

Working on some things at the moment but the Autumn story is still in progress, for now though enjoy this next installment.

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"It's just really frustrating!" Dash groaned as he sat on Kwan's bed and angrily rubbed at his face, "I mean I want to help him so bad, I want him to feel safe with me and to know that I'll tear anyone in my way apart and die trying to keep him from being hurt again but this is…"

He flung his head back onto a pillow and groaned out through clenched teeth trying to figure out what he wanted to say to the Asian man standing at a dresser in front of him. Kwan was getting ready to go to a convention for forensics and was packing his bag for his trip at the moment while listening to his friend voice his concerns for his half-ghostly lover.

"I don't know what to tell you Dash, I mean he has a valid point in not being able to actually go and talk to someone about this. The town trusts him as a hero but there's no telling what kind of backlash would occur from people learning about it. Could cause paranoia and distrust towards him again, and if what all I've learned from Dan is true too, there's not really any shrinks in the Ghost Zone that could help him with this either."

"Yeah, I figured that wouldn't be an option but if he didn't go talk to Dr. Ryer I was going to ask Masters if he had any ideas." He let out a long breath and sighed, he didn't want to go behind Danny's back and try to get him help but at the same time he knew Danny needed something to help get him through this.

"Ehh enough about that. It's depressing and until he decides to do something I can't figure out my next step anyway. How's things going with you and your evil boyfriend?"

Kwan shot an annoyed glare at his friend and rolled his eyes, "Don't call him evil, he's a pretty good guy. Just rough around the edges and gruff."

"Haven't seen him around lately, though, everything alright?"

"Yeah," Kwan put another shirt in his suitcase and shrugged, "Said he had a job from that Clockwork guy. Something about a random portal appearing and people getting lost in the zone. I dunno he said it was no big deal so I'm not worried. He said he'd meet me at my hotel when I arrived so that's just one more reason to look forward to all this."

"Look at you, dating a bad boy anti-hero ghost from the future who was hell bent on destroying the earth and all of humanity after a tragic backstory." Dash chuckled

"Yeah? And look at you dating the nerd you used to beat on that was actually the super hero you idolized."

Dash and Kwan stared at each other for a few moments after saying that and then burst out laughing. They had no idea why they were laughing or what actually set it off but for some reason they laughed and it actually felt good.

"He'll be fine you know," Kwan smiled finally zipping his bag up and looking over at his friend, "He's been through a lot and come through it stronger. He's tougher than either of us, stronger than any ghost we've ever met, and braver than any man we'll likely ever meet."

"I know; I just hope he decides to talk to someone about this. It's eating him up and I just want him to get past this."

"I know you do, Dash, but right now I think you're just going to have to be there for him and weather out this storm. That case brought up a lot of bad memories for him. Things I wouldn't wish on anyone, even Calvin, were done to him and he's got a lot of scars from it all. Maybe one day he'll be able to make all that pain into something he can put behind him or maybe not, but regardless right now I think the most important thing you can do for him is just be there and hold him together when things get to rough."

"Yeah, I will," Dash smiled and got up, "I'll head out then, you have fun at your lil nerd fair and when you get back we'll try to get in a movie night again."

"It's a Forensic Convention," Kwan yelled out as Dash walked away laughing.

Meanwhile on the other side of the city Danny looked at the card he had in his hands again and checked it against the address. Danny had thought about this all day and thought that maybe Dash did have a point with this. He had been carrying around a lot of pain and rage ever since the incident with the Guys in White when he was still a teenager and maybe it would be helpful to talk to a therapist.

Before coming here he had gone back to their apartment and gotten an old hoodie and some jeans and slipped it on over his Phantom persona before coming here so no one would recognize him in the office. He had the hood up and a pair of sunglasses on as he flew up invisibly and intangibly to the Doctor's waiting room. He looked around for a moment noticing the lack of people and figured that everyone was out to lunch at the moment. Just as he was about to leave he stopped and listened carefully. There was some soft music playing from behind a closed door that had the doctor's name on it

Taking a deep breath and straightening out his outfit he took a few steps towards the door and gently knocked on it.

"You can come in."

Danny carefully opened the door and stepped into the room. An older woman who seemed to be in her late 40s sat behind a solid wood desk working on some files. She had a pair of simple grey glasses over her shining green eyes and she had a very professional outfit on that accented her caramel colored skin in a flattering way. When she finally looked up she blinked in surprise and pushed back a short lock of silvered hair to join with the rest of the redish brown that she had in a lose pony tail.

"Oh I'm sorry, are you a new patient?" She reached for a PDA and started to poke at buttons trying to find any information on what she thought she had forgotten.

"Uh, no not exactly, I mean I sort of want to be, but I'm unsure about a lot of this and well… I dunno if this is a good thing for me or if you can even help me at all," Danny rubbed at his arm and suddenly felt like he was 14 again and in trouble at the principal's office.

"Let's try this another way," the woman smiled and stood up from her desk and walked around to offer her hand, "I'm Dr. Tori Ryer; psychiatrist. What can I help you with?"

Danny gulped and took her hand and gave it a firm shake while he took his shades off and pushed his hood back, "I need some professional help, Dr. Ryer, and although I'm sure living in Amity Park you must have heard about me I'll just go ahead and introduce myself."

Danny pulled back his hood and removed the sunglasses before he looked at her, "I'm Danny Phantom." He gave a nervous smile to her and she just stared at him in shock before she shook her head and remembered her manners.

"Right, yes of course, Mr. Phantom, please sit down and let's talk and let me see what I can do for you." She went back to her desk and then looked him over again.

"I'm sorry I just showed up like this but I've been having some troubles lately and someone I know suggested that I talk to someone about it." Danny took a seat in one of the available chairs and started to fiddle with his thumbs.

"I'm going to be honest with you uh… Mr. Phantom?" The doctor looked confused about how to address the man but tried to remain polite and professional about what was going on, "I'm a human psychiatrist and I've never had any types of dealings with ghosts. In fact you're the first one I've actually seen up close and I've been living in Amity for 12 years now."

"Well I don't know much about any differences there might be between humans and ghosts, but I know I have a human body, human like organs and structures, and, despite what some so-called "experts" might tell you, most ghosts have emotions, thoughts, and feelings just like humans. We're really not all that different despite the physical appearances."

"I see." Dr. Ryer looked him over and nodded seemingly interested in what he had to say, "Well considering I do take you on as a patient what is it that you needed to seek me out for? I mainly deal with people suffering from trauma; rape victims, teens who have been bullied, and so on."

"Well," Danny took a deep breath and gulped down the feelings of dread that tried to overtake him, "Several years ago I was caught by the Guys in White organization and… well that's where my trauma comes from."

"They did things to you?" And while it was put as a question, Danny knew that she already knew the answer.

"I'm not exactly human so I'm not protected by humanity laws or whatever they'd be called." He looked away and held his arms.

"I see…" The doctor took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm going to be honest with you, Mr. Phantom, I don't know what happened to you but I can already take several guesses as to what might have happened and I understand how painful that must have been for you. I'd like to help you if only because I am a doctor and it is my duty to help people, or ghosts in your instance. Personally I'd like to do a study about this and perhaps write a paper on the matter of ghost psychology but I have a feeling you wouldn't be too keen on that idea would you?"

"No, ma'am, I don't want it to get out that I'm seeing a doctor, no offense," Danny looked up and cringed hoping he hadn't offended her, "I've just spent a long time trying to gain the public's trust and I don't want them to think I'm losing it and start to distrust me again."

"It's alright I understand," she pulled out her PDA again and started to scan the screen, "I take it you'd like to do this after hours when everyone else has gone home. I can make excuses to stay late, work on case files or something, and you can come then. Are there any good evenings that I can schedule you for?"

"Uhh… Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are good days for me, I don't have things going on those nights most of the time."

"Very well, I can see you this Thursday at 7, by then everyone else should have gone home. Just knock on my window before you fly in."

"Right," Danny started to head towards the window to fly away when he stopped and turned around, "Oh, I forgot to ask how much each session will cost. I've got money from working with the new Ghost Squad that the mayor set up after that fiasco with the Guys in White but I'm afraid it will have to be in cash. Turns out banks don't like to set up accounts for dead people."

"I was wondering what you meant by having things to do," She smiled and waved it off, "Considering all that you do for the city, consider my time as a public service towards helping keep our resident hero healthy. But if you know of any other ghosts that might be willing to participate in therapy and study I'd gladly take that as payment too."

"I'll see what I can do. Thanks, Doc." Danny smiled and turned intangible before he flew out the wall and into the open air.

Later that night when Danny finally made it home a sense of peace came over him as he spotted Dash lounging on the sofa, reading a book. In his mind there was nowhere else he'd rather be than with him, so he quickly locked their front door and walked over to him to lean down and give him a kiss.

"Hey, Dash, how was your day?" He turned to sit on the other side of the sofa facing Dash, taking the spot his feet had been.

"Wasn't a bad day, went to see Kwan off before he went to that forensic conference thing, got some groceries, did a bit of running around and then came home and pretty much just enjoyed the day. I was actually starting to think about getting dinner started when you came in. How about you?"

"Well…," Danny pulled his legs up to his chest and glanced over at Dash, "I went to see Dr. Ryer at her office today and scheduled some time to talk to her. You know… as Phantom?"

Dash put his book aside and sat up instantly alert to what the man before him had to say, "And?"

"I have a session Thursday at 7 pm."

They sat there quietly for a moment before Dash nodded his head. He leaned over to pull Danny into his lap and wrapped his arms around him in a hug him before he fell back down into the couch with him on top, "I'm glad you're getting help. I know it wasn't easy and you might feel weak because of it, but I don't think any less of you for this and I just want you to get past all the negative things that happened when you were younger and come out better from it."

"I know, you dork." The dark haired man smiled at what his boyfriend said while in the embrace of his arms, "But thanks for telling me that. I'm glad that I can actually get help myself."


	3. Healing

Still writing but thought I'd get this posted up now. I hope you like this chapter and if you are curious about anything you can comment here or message me on my tumblr but for now enjoy.

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Time progressed for the pair of men after that night. Danny went to see Dr. Ryer on a regular basis and both continued their work at the station and with the Ghost Protection Squad under Darren. All in all it wasn't that totally different from what life had been like before. Only now Danny disappeared for an hour sometimes once or twice a week and as the weeks turned into months the bad dreams that had plagued him before came less and less.

It was into the third month of seeing the doctor though that something strange started to happen. At first Dash didn't think anything of it, but he started to notice that Danny was disappearing and staying away more often than was normal during the week. Something else that struck him as odd was him wanting to refrain from being intimate with each other. It wasn't like Dash was some teenage horn-ball that needed to get laid every day but after a week of all his advances being shot down he started to feel like something was wrong.

"It's just weird. I don't know why but he just seems to avoid getting too intimate with me. I mean we still kiss and make out and lounge together but every time I move my hand up his shirt he stops me and it's just weird."

"Why don't you try talking to him, Dash?" Kwan backed up from his microscope and sighed pinching the bridge of his nose, "Honestly I'm glad to help you but you can't just come up to me while I'm working and ask for relationship advice. You know how Berman feels about you dropping in and I really do need to focus on things here."

"Yeah I know… I'm just… I worry."

"You are so in love," Kwan smirked at him making the blond scowl, "Just give him some time; I'm sure whatever it is that's going on with him isn't serious. And I know you're there Dan so drop the invisibility act already."

"Aww you're no fun," Dash jumped at the sudden voice that seemingly spoke from nowhere before Dan appeared before them, "How'd you know I was around?"

"After spending time with Danny and learning more about ghosts from Darren I've started to understand that a slight decrease in the air around the area can be a sign of spectral activity." He rolled up his sleeve to show off a strange looking watch that had several buttons on the side, "I made this to alert me to any sudden change in the temperature and really what other ghost besides Danny would come around here anyway?"

"And how did you know it WASN'T Danny, hmm?" The ghost smiled slyly and floated over to lean over Kwan's workspace.

"Because Danny wouldn't just lurk around," he leaned up and pressed a kiss to the ghost's lips and smiled, "Nice to see you though."

"Right well I'll just leave you two alone then. Have a nice night." He waved them off to hopefully only kiss a bit and maybe make out in the lab before he started to head home himself. He was concerned about Danny seeming to pull back from him for some reason and even despite the reassurances from his best friend he still felt like something was going on and that it was his own fault.

When he got back to their apartment Dash smiled at the smell that wafted into his nose. Looking into the kitchen he smiled at a pot that was simmering over the stove. It was Danny's turn to cook tonight and it looked like he had made Dash's favorite 3 bean beef chili with bacon. Maybe he had just been imagining things with Danny if he was making his favorite dinner for him.

The thought of Danny preparing his favorite meal filled him with a fond warmth as he walked back to their room once he realized his boyfriend wasn't anywhere else in the apartment. As he opened the door prepared to greet the other man he stopped and went wide eyed at what he saw. Danny was standing in front of a mirror pulling on a button up green shirt but covering his chest from his shoulders down to his waist was a bunch of gauze and bandages.

"What happened?!" Dash didn't even try to be subtle as he marched right over to his boyfriend. He didn't see any blood or anything leaking through the bandages but that didn't mean that whatever happened hadn't been bad.

"DASH!" Danny leapt in surprise and looked away in surprise, "Geeze you scared me, I didn't hear you come in." He tried to turn around and act like Dash hadn't seen the bandages but the blond was having none of that. He grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around. Looking at the gauze again he saw that there was some even at the base of his throat.

"Damn it, Danny, what the hell happened to you?!" He reached out to touch the other's chest but pulled his hand back afraid that it might hurt him.

"It's nothing, Dash," When shocked eyes looked up into his Danny smiled and just shook his head as he finished buttoning up his shirt, "Seriously it's nothing. Just a little… surprise I guess you could say I've been working on that I'll show you later, ok?"

"What kind of surprise leaves you with gauze covering your chest?"

"Something nice, just trust me," Danny took Dash's hand while smiling and lead him out to the kitchen where the aroma of the chili continued to waft through the air. The smaller man walked around getting out a pair of bowls and went about scooping the chili into them before setting them down on the table. Dash meanwhile got out some crackers and cheese yet still watching Danny. He could still see a bit of the gauze that was covering the base of his throat and he couldn't help but wonder what kind of injury might lay under them.

"You're not going to relax until you see what's going on are you?" Danny grunted feeling a bit annoyed after they had sat down and Dash still looked at him with great concern in his eyes, "Fine, I was going to save this until after dinner but oh well might as well show you now."

Standing up from his chair he went over to the garbage can they had by the fridge and opened it up before taking off his shirt. With his bare back turned to Dash he started to pull off the tape that held the bandages in place and tossed them into the white plastic bag. He still couldn't see what was wrong with his boyfriend but from what he could see of the gauze there didn't seem to be much blood.

"Okay… So just be honest and tell me what you think." Danny turned around and Dash went wide eyed at the sight of a tattoo that covered most of his chest.

The tattoo was like a jade bird but split into shapes like a mosaic. The wings were spread out from over one shoulder to the other and the feathers on the wings reached down in prism shapes. The body was made up of various diamond shapes going down the center of his chest to where the tail was made of swirling strokes that ended just above the waistband of his pants. The bird's head rested at the base of his throat where a few feathers came off the head and made their way up his throat and neck. The most impressive thing about it, though, was that if covered up the y-incision scar that Danny had. It might not have completely covered it and hid it beneath the ink, but it still took the attention away from the ugly mark.

Dash walked over to Danny and reached out slowly to touch the ink that now covered him. He let his hand start at the strong shoulders where the wings reached and slowly felt across the smooth expanse of his pectorals to where the head of the bird laid. It was a thing of beauty and it was on an even more beautiful canvas in Dash's opinion. As his hands moved down across Danny's abs tracing the tail with his fingers he thought about how long something like this must have taken and how painful and nerve wracking it must have been letting someone do this to him over his scar.

"Danny… what?" Dash continued to move his hand up and down the skin, tracing the bird that covered him now. He was confused about this sudden reveal and wondered where he had got the idea to do this.

"Dr. Ryer sort of suggested it," Danny blushed as he felt his boyfriend's hands caress his body as if he was a fine piece of art.

"Getting a tattoo?" The incredulous look Dash gave him made him laugh.

"No, she… she suggested when she learned about what the Guys in White did to me that I should do something to change it into something better. Like how cancer patients will do something to celebrate them beating cancer she told not to think of the scar as a reminder of a horrible experience but to try to think of it as something that I overcame and grew from. I became stronger, faster, better, and now after all these years it feels like I've grown past being that weak person who was captured by them."

"So you decided to get a tattoo of a green bird?" The blond looked at him curiously trying to figure this all out.

"No, you goof," Danny chuckled and lightly pushed him away, "It's a phoenix because of how I overcame a traumatic experience and it's in green because that's my favorite color and reflects my ghostly half."

"It looks awesome and…" Dash rubbed the back of his head feeling a bit self conscious about what he was now thinking, "Does that mean that you're… okay? Have you moved past this?"

"Dash…" Danny sighed and put his shirt back on and buttoned it up, "I'll never be able to move past this, and I'll never really be ok. What happened to me was traumatic and it will always be a part of what makes up my history. What happened; happened but so long as I acknowledge that and don't let it control and influence me, I'll be fine. I'm done letting the past control and hurt me, it's my life and I'm done letting one moment in my past control me."

"So does this mean you're done with therapy and that I can touch you again?" The taller man chuckled as they sat back down at the table.

"The only reason I didn't want you touching me and all was because I didn't want you to feel the bandages or see the tattoo. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"That's good, I thought you might have been relapsing or something and were afraid of me touching you." Dash blushed and looked down at his bowl of chili to scoop a good helping into his mouth.

"Dash… I love you, if you were doing something that was making me uncomfortable I would have said something. Don't worry about it," He smiled and reached over to take the other man's hand and then grimaced a bit, "But… there is one thing I am afraid about…"

"What's that?" Dash turned his hand around to take his boyfriend's hand into his own to provide comfort and reassurance.

"I'm afraid about how my mom will react to the tattoo when we go over to their place next week and when I tell them… well… everything." He gave a bit of a nervous smile and Dash just went wide eyed at the statement. Danny was going to take him to his parents', going to come out as bi to them, and if he read the look on his face right likely tell them he was Danny Phantom and tell them about all that had happened to him.

It crossed his mind a moment later that this was also a 'meet the parents' type of deal and considering his past with the Fenton family from when the men were in high school Dash had only one thing to say.

"Your parents are going to grill me aren't they?"

* * *

The answer is: Yes, they are going to grill him over a nice open flame seasoned with rosemary, garlic and some golden potatoes. No not really, but yeah the next chapter is going to be a "meet the parents" type of deal and Dash would never be ready for that no matter how much time I gave him.


	4. Love

Sooo... Forgot that I hadn't posted this last part but here it is now.

* * *

A week later Dash found himself standing outside of Fenton Works with a bottle of wine in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. He was sweating buckets despite the cool evening air and he felt more like a man walking towards a guillotine than towards the house of his boyfriend's parents.

He had wanted to dress up nicely; tie, jacket, pants, the works, in order to impress the Fentons and not look like the punk bully he had been in his early years of high school, but Danny had talked him into being more casual. Thus he found himself standing outside the door dressed in a simple light blue polo shirt and khaki pants while Danny stood next to him. He had decided to wear a green plaid button up shirt and he had the top two buttons undone letting the top of his tattoo show. It wasn't like he was broadcasting the fact he had gotten a tattoo but tonight was a coming out for more than just being bisexual and this was going to serve as a precursor for what the young man planned to reveal.

"Your dad's going to throw me into that Ghost Portal thing of yours, isn't he?"

"My dad is a big teddy bear," Danny smirked and rang the doorbell, "My mom however is like a mother bear."

When Dash gave him a curious look Danny just smirked evilly, "Meaning that like a mother bear if you hurt her cubs she will maul you and scatter your entrails across the tri-county area."

"Charming…" The blond rolled his eyes now extremely thankful for the invention of antiperspirant deodorant as he heard the sounds of someone approaching the door from inside.

"DANNY!" Mrs. Fenton opened the door smiling widely. She had aged well; her red hair barely had a hint of grey in it and the winkles in her face added more to her sense of wisdom than to her age. She also still wore her aquamarine jump suit and it still fit her well. All in all she looked well for a woman who had raised two children and dealt with battling ghosts for decades.

"Hey, mom," Danny gave his mother a hug before stepping back and gestured to the man beside him, "You remember Dash don't you?"

The woman turned to look at the blond and frowned, "Dash Baxter? Yes, I seem to recall someone by that name being a bit of a nuisance to you and your friends when you were younger. Why's he here?"

She glared at him hard and Dash could barely swallow the lump of fear that was trying to lodge itself in his throat.

"Mom," Danny whined embarrassed at his mother's actions, "I'll tell you and dad both about why he's here in a minute. Just let us in first, ok?"

"Fine, but I'm watching you, Baxter." Mrs. Fenton glared at him and Danny just shook his head tiredly as he walked into the house. Nothing had really changed over the years and to Danny it even smelled the same as when he had lived here last.

"Maddie? Did I hear Danny?" A strong voice bellowed from upstairs and the three adults turned to see Jack Fenton coming down the stairs dressed in nice jeans and a casual collared shirt. The man was still as large as Dash remembered him, but he had his own winkles now on a face that was worn from hard work and heat from experiments. His hair was mostly white now, making him look even older, but still the youthfulness and love in the man's eyes at seeing his son standing back in his house made him look years younger.

"DANNY!" The man quickly made his way towards his son and pulled him up into a tight bear hug that popped his back, "It's good to see you, my boy!"

"It's good to see you too, dad," Danny grunted and was put down after one last squeeze. It was after he was let go that the elder Fenton seemed to finally notice Dash. His eyes looked at him curiously before looking down at the flowers and wine before looking back up at his face with a tilt of his head and a raise of his brow.

"And I see you brought a friend…?" He looked over at his wife like he was mentally asking her if she was seeing the same thing he was seeing.

"Yes, dear, that's Dash Baxter… and our son is going to explain why he's here before I go upstairs to change for dinner."

This was it for Dash. This was the moment that Danny was going to come out as bi to his parents. He hadn't spoken to his own parents in years and was on even worse terms with them even before that. Getting their approval of Danny wasn't even an issue in Dash's eyes. Their opinion meant nothing to him and he had no plans of ever even introducing Danny to them.

The Fentons, though, were another matter entirely. They had a stable loving relationship. The kind every kid wants their parents to have. Sure they were weird and dorky and had all sorts of quirks but they loved each other unconditionally and that's what mattered. They also loved their kids with all their hearts and cherished them, and Dash hoped that they approved of him. After all, he didn't want to cause a rift between Danny and his parents.

"Well," Danny smiled a bit bashfully and looked at his parents before he turned his gaze back to Dash's face and wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him forward a bit, "Dash and I have been dating for a little over a year now and I wanted to introduce him to you as my boyfriend. We actually moved in together not too long ago and I thought it was way past time for you all to meet."

The two men just stood there for a moment as the older couple stared at them in wide eyed amazement. They looked at each other and then back at the two men before Mrs. Fenton finally started to chuckle.

"Well that's certainly a surprise considering your history. I'm sure there's a good story behind how you two got together, but I think that would work best while we eat dinner. Excuse me and I'll get dressed," she started to walk up the stairs but turned to look back at her son, "And don't think I won't ask about that tattoo on your chest, Danny, I want to know what it is and why you felt the need to make sure we saw it."

Mr. Fenton's head jerked back to look at his son and both men saw his eyes go wide at the ink that was peeking out along the dark haired man's throat. He looked at the marks then up to Danny's face and back a few times before he frowned.

"We have a LOT to talk about tonight it seems…," He seemed cross for a moment and it made Dash feel nervous; like he was about to witness a spectacular blow out between parent and child before the older man continued on with a smile, "But all that can wait for dinner. Danny, why don't you help me get the food out and Dash can set the plates on the table?"

"Sure, dad," Danny smiled and followed his father, taking the whine Dash had brought with him. The other man quickly followed after the pair and once shown where everything was, collected the plates and silverware and took it to the table they would be eating at. Since it was only the four of them there wasn't much for him to do and he finished setting everything right as the male Fentons started to bring food in.

The dinner itself was a standard affair. A hearty lasagna, salad, rolls, and Mrs. Fenton even brought out some cookies she had made afterwards for dessert. The whole time there was light conversation about how the two men had started dating, what they had been doing, how work was going for them, and the two older Fentons were genuinely pleasant to Dash. After the meal was done and the dishes were soaking in the sink the two couples made their way to the living room and Mr. Fenton poured them all some of the whine that Dash had brought.

"I must say, Dash," Mr. Fenton smiled as he smelled the cork he pulled from the bottle, "You have very good taste."

"Well of course he does, Jack, he is dating our darling son after all," Mrs. Fenton spoke with fondness as she sat next to her husband on the loveseat with a glass of the whine in hand.

"Mom…" Danny cringed embarrassed at her praise and Dash couldn't help but pull him closer to him on the couch and kiss his forehead. The couples sat like that for a few moments, sipping the whine and enjoying the quiet of the evening together until Mrs. Fenton finally sighed and looked over at her son.

"Danny, you still haven't told us the story behind that tattoo that you felt the need for us to see. I don't mind that you got one mind you, you are a grown man and it is your body to do with whatever you like so long as you aren't harming yourself, but still I feel like you have something more to tell us."

"You're right," Danny sighed and took a deep sip of his remaining whine before he sat up and took a deep steadying breath.

"The truth is that I wanted to tell you a lot of things tonight. The least of them being that Dash and I are dating and living together," Hearing an annoyed grunt Danny glanced over and saw the big blond frowning at him, "Not that that's not a real big deal though because Dash has been great and is really important to me!"

Satisfied with hearing that Dash smiled and nodded before taking his boyfriend's hand and giving it a comforting squeeze, "It's just there's something else I wanted to tell you and this tattoo is a big part of it."

"You see," Danny removed his hand from Dash's grip and started to undo the buttons on his shirt one at a time revealing the head of the bird before going down more to where the intersection of the Y-incision scar appeared on his chest. He heard his parents gasp and knew that they had seen it but kept going until all the buttons were undone before removing his shirt completely and showing off the jade phoenix that covered the Y-shaped scar on his torso, "This tattoo is my way of dealing with a very painful trauma I went through years ago. I took something that was ugly and grew from it and became stronger and better and this was my way of celebrating that fact."

"Danny…" Mrs. Fenton nervously reached out her hand several times before pulling it back and covering her mouth trying to remain collected as tears started to form in her eyes, "What happened to you?"

"Just before graduation I was captured by the Guys in White," Danny lowered his head remembering that moment as he pulled his shirt back on and started to redo the buttons.

"What?!" The sound of a glass shattering brought everyone's attention back towards Mr. Fenton who's glass had now shattered in his hand. Thankfully he wasn't bleeding and the glass had been empty but still it was a shock that he had done that, as was the furious look in his eyes, "Why would they want to capture you? And they did that?! Danny if they were after something of your mother's and mine you should have just gave it to them or told them! You mean more to us than any information we might have had!"

"More importantly: why didn't you tell us? We could have gone to the police! They can't do that to a human being, Danny, they can't…," Mrs. Fenton gesticulated wildly at Danny trying to remain composed, "Do… THAT, to someone! And why? Why would they even do that to you…?"

"Mom, dad, please, calm down…" He reached out and held his mother's hand and that was all it took for her to start crying and for Mr. Fenton to wrap his arm around her and start shedding his own tears as well at seeing what had been done to his only son.

After a few moments the two calmed down and composed themselves. It was hard to remain calm at seeing what had happened to their child but they wanted to hear what exactly had happened to him that had led to this scar.

"You see…" Danny sighed as he pulled back, "They did this because of the biggest secret I've kept from you guys since I was 14."

Both of the Fentons gasped in shock as a ring of light appeared around Danny before splitting and moving up and down his body changing his outfit to a black and white jumpsuit. As the rings finished traveling up his head to change his blue eyes to green and his black hair to white he cautiously looked at his parents' shocked faces. They stared openly in shock at seeing what had happened right before them and for a few moments no one said anything.

"Danny… what…?" Mrs. Fenton held her hand to her face again as she stared at her son's change into the ghost hero of Amity Park.

"It's a bit of a long story," Danny smiled sheepishly as he changed back to his human form and rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's our house, Danny my boy," Mr. Fenton smirked though with a look on his face that said he was trying not to freak out about this before he leaned back in his seat, "We're not going anywhere."

"Right," Danny chuckled nervously and leaned against Dash as he wrapped his arm around the dark haired man, "Well you see…"

With that Danny started to tell his parents about how he had become what he was. He told them about the accident with the portal and discovering his powers and went on to tell them about everything that had happened to him over the years. He avoided the subjects of Dan and Vlad because those were more complicated issues and secrets that didn't need to be dealt with tonight, but other than that he was truthful with just about everything up to the point when he was captured by the GiW.

Dash gave his boyfriend's hand a comforting squeeze as Danny recounted the events that happened. The strange thing, though, was that Danny didn't shake nearly as much as he usually did when talking about that memory. It was strangely comforting to Dash to know that Danny was slowly starting to heal from such a horrific ordeal. Looking at the Fentons and their horrified expressions, however, reminded him of the time he had heard this story and all the emotions it brought up.

"I was saved by another ghost that I know who's a good friend of mine, and after that I was stitched up and tried to put it behind me. It didn't work out too well though and recently a case brought back all those horrible nightmares I used to have about what they did to me. I've been seeing a therapist for the trauma and I've been getting better and decided that doing this," Danny waved his hand down his chest, "Was, like I said, a good way to take an ugly memory and make it into something better."

"In a lot of ways that ugly memory has made me a lot stronger. I fight smarter, I'm more cautious and alert, I'm stronger," Danny started to smile as he thought of all the ways he had improved himself over the years and then looked back at Dash who tilted his head curious as to what he was thinking, "Because of what happened I couldn't become an astronaut like I wanted but because of that I now have a great job serving the community and I got a great boyfriend out of it too. So really this was just like the final part of taking that ugly incident and making it into what it really was: a memory that allowed me to grow and become the man I… I hope you're proud I became."

"Oh, Danny," Mrs. Fenton stood up and pulled her son into her arms, hugging him for all she was worth, "Of course we're proud of you. We couldn't be more proud with everything you've accomplished. As our son or as Phantom; you've become such a good strong and upstanding man and we couldn't be more proud of you."

"She's right, Danny," Mr. Fenton came up and enveloped both wife and son in his own bear hug embrace, "We're both so proud of you, and we're sorry if we ever made you feel like you were unsafe with us because of what you were. We love you."

"I love you guys too," Danny reached around and hugged them as tight as he could, the weight of his secrets were now lifted from his shoulders and he felt worlds lighter than he ever had before.

Seeing the family having a moment, Dash tried to quietly get up and leave the room to give them some alone time. The blond however didn't make it far before a deep cough got his attention and he looked back at a frowning Mr. Fenton.

"Get over here, Dash, as far as I'm concerned you're part of the family now too." Dash didn't have a moment to protest as he found the larger man's arm reach out and pull him into the family hug. It was nice, warm, and full of love, just what Dash expected from this crazy family.

Later that night, after the two men had found their way back home and climbed into bed, Danny took off his shirt and laid back next to Dash. It was unusual for Danny to sleep without a shirt but Dash wasn't one to complain about the sight that now greeted him. Where there had once been a horrific scar there now was etched beautiful flowing green shapes. It was a wondrous sight and Dash couldn't help but trace the outlines up Danny's chest.

"So that was an evening, huh?" Danny chuckled and reached up to brush back the blond hairs on Dash's head.

"Told you they'd accept everything about you. Neither the ghostly half nor the liking guys part made them look at you any differently than they already did. Though I think they're a bit more proud of you now for coming clean about your life."

"Yeah, though I think my mom is happier that I've actually got someone in my life."

"Please tell me she's not pressuring us to get married," Dash groaned and then caught himself, "Not that that'd be such a horrible thing or whatever, it's just that we haven't been dating that long and we just moved in together and I don't want to rush anything even though we've known each other for years and everything I just think that we have a bit more to learn about each other and get used to things before we actually take that step you know? Not that I'm saying I'll never want to it's just that I don't know a lot about healthy relationships and you're like the best relationship I've ever had but of course the rest have been pretty much train wrecks and my parents were never prime examples of a healthy relationship, whereas your parents have like this totally awesome marriage where they-" Dash was suddenly cut off from his ramblings as firm lips pushed into his. Danny slowly pushed Dash down into the bed and leaned over him to deepen their kiss for a few moments more before pulling back, his dark hair falling over his face and a cocky smirk on his lips.

"Calmed down now?"

"Heh… Yeah sorry I just got nervous," Dash shrugged sheepishly and squirmed a bit to get situated for sleep.

"It's fine, and no I don't think my mom would pressure us to get married. She's just happy that I'm happy and hopes that we stay happy together for a long time."

"That's good," A deep yawn escaped from the blond as Danny reached over to turn off the light on his nightstand causing the room to fall into complete darkness.

"Goodnight, Dash," Danny spoke from his side of the bed and Dash reached over to pull him closer.

"Goodnight, Danny," Dash smiled and leaned his head down to kiss his boyfriend's lips, not needing light to know where they were, "I love you."

"I love you too." Danny smiled and leaned his head against Dash's shoulder before closing his eyes. It had been a good night, and with a brighter future ahead of him Danny fell asleep content and without fear in the arms of the person who meant the world to him.

* * *

Hope everyone liked it and leaves nice reviews.


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